heiwalove
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6467
posted
i just got my vitamin D results back, and they are really, really low; so my LLMD is having me take supplemental vitamin D and encouraging me to get daily sun exposure.
just wondering -- for those who take vitamin D, how many IUs daily/weekly? (he wants me to work up to 50,000 IUs a week. as of now i'm only taking 2000 IUs/day.)
thanks!
(edited to add: pleeease no debate from the marshall protocol people. thank you in advance.)
heiwalove
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6467
posted
MB, it was only the 25 hydroxy, but that's good enough for me considering my result was 14, and my LLMD says anything below 50 is insufficient/dangerous.
disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
I was tested as well and mine was Below 7. He also put me on 50,000 IU once a week. I've been on it for one and a half months so far.
From what I've been told, it's pretty standard. I told him my concerns about possibly taking too much and becoming toxic. He told me that it's more than likely that won't happen. I just saw him yesterday and he's having me test my Vitamin D again so we can check it so I won't continue to worry about taking the 50,000 IU Vitamin D each week. He told me it's probably still in the lower ranges, as it's only been a month and a half and that's how it seems to be for a lot of people even supplementing with 50,000 IU a week.
Also, before I started taking 50,000 IU I was supplementing 3,000 to 4,000 Vitamin D a day. That didn't help my levels whatsoever. We had them rechecked after a while on that and it was still Below 7. Not sure if it was the type of Vitamin D I was taking (from the store) that didn't help or if it just wasn't enough for my body, but it didn't elevate my levels whatsoever.
I trust our LLMD.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Given that the days are getting longer and the sun is getting stronger at this time of the year in our hemisphere, and that unblocked sun exposure is the most natural way to raise D levels, that is the approach that should be taken, 10-15 minutes of sun on face and arms between the hours of 11 and 2.
The 50,000 IU dose, known as Drisdol, is ergocalciferol, which comes from a fungus, and should be avoided.
The only acceptable oral supplement is D3, and the best of those are concentrated from cod liver oil, a product with a 200 year safety record.
400 IU is the starting dose, and should be titrated upwards by 400 IU increments once a week, stopping at a total dose of 1200 IU per day IF YOU ARE GETTING REGULAR SUN EXPOSURE.
Be careful to not get a sunburn. If you are getting worse instead of better even on low doses of D and low level sun exposure, consult your LLMD, the Marshall protocol could be considered.
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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Cobweb
Unregistered
posted
I had ridiculously low vitamin D levels, so endocrinologist gave me a script for something like 40,000 IU Vitamin D which I took three times a week for 8 weeks.
Since then I take an over the counter supplemental Vitamin D at 1600 IU daily.
My last lab reports the doc said my level was perfect.
Since I'm on Doxy-sun source is out of the question.
BTW-endocrinologist says I have malabsorption syndrome and should be tested for Celiac.
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kelmo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8797
posted
My daughter's D level was ZERO...she herxed like a mother on 400IUs. My doc said one of his patients was told to take 50,000IUs, but the herx inflamed his oticular nerves and he went deaf for a while.
So, I would recommend working up slowly. I am up to 4,000IU daily, and I'm a crossing guard in the desert, getting an hour of full sun a day.
My daughter is up to 6000IUs, and her vitamin D level is now up to 73 after one year.
I don't understand the HUGE dosages. I think that would cause problems on the other end of the spectrum.
Posts: 2903 | From AZ | Registered: Feb 2006
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sixgoofykids
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11141
posted
I've read the same thing as JohnnyB.
Dr. Mercola's site has good info about Vitamin D. I bought one of Dr. Mercola's tanning beds for a vitamin D source as I know I feel better when getting sunshine, but don't get it enough in Ohio.
I've never been a tanning bed fan .... but he has addressed a couple of my concerns in his model (EMF;s and radiation). I also don't use it as much as someone who wants a dark tan.
When I supplemented Vitamin D I was taking D3 as Dr.Luddite suggests. It also seemed to help. But I feel safer getting the D from the tanning bed over a pill .... of course, the best way is from the sun.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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heiwalove
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6467
posted
thanks everyone.
so far i'm on 2000 IU of D3/day and haven't noticed a herx. in fact i feel a bit better already. and for me the marshall protocol is out of the question; it makes no sense to me and just feels wrong intuitively so i refuse to consider it.
disturbed, do you take the 50,000 IUs in one single weekly dose?
i will ask my LLMD about the 1, 25 D test, though i'm unsure what information that test will provide that i don't already know..?
disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
Yes, I take 50,000 IU once a week. I was taking it every Saturday. But now I'm taking it every Tuesday because I had to get it refilled and it takes a couple days for the compounding pharmacy to get it made/ready.
And it has not made me herx. I guess it does for some people, but I didn't notice anything negative. I think it might have also helped me to feel somewhat better as well.
PS - I was only put on this dosage to last for three months (though right now I'm only on one and a half months). He's testing me now, and we'll go from those results.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
I, too just found out I have low vitamin D. My doctor put me on D3 1000 IU once a day, and said to go outside in the sun for 15 minutes daily
Posts: 370 | From NJ | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Mine was also very low, but I was only started on 1000 IU daily (to be built up to 2000 mg daily), so I am guessing that yours is much lower than mine.
I was supposed to get sun exposure as well, until starting doxy today.
No herxes or bad reactions so far...
Not sure if this helps at all!
Danielle
-------------------- "Say little, do much." Posts: 16 | From Virginia, USA | Registered: Apr 2008
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